Review of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014) by Tss5078 — 19 May 2017

When something fresh and successful comes along, everyone wants a piece of it. Shortly following the films release, a number of copycats emerge and to be honest most of them are terrible. Maybe it's because we tend to compare it to the original or maybe it's because the scripts are rushed and just aren't that good.

In any case, after the release of the Wimpy Kid series, we saw a lot of these family comedies, centering on the not so popular kids, and as expected, most of them were awful, with one notable exception.

Alexander's bad day focuses on a young man whose birthday coincides with his first day of middle school, which doesn't go so well. After receiving no sympathy from his family, Alexander wishes that they all had their own bad day, and the results were hilarious.

This isn't the typical PG family comedy you see from Disney, as it was quite raunchy for them and really pushes the boundary of that PG rating. Ed Oxenbould stars as Alexander and fits the role like a glove.

Oxenbould looks and sounds kind of awkward, after all it is a strange age, but watching him gave the feeling that he's not all that unfamiliar with being unpopular. Possibly playing on real life experience, he rivals Alex Gordon with a performance that was not only believable, but it was also very funny.

Another advantage this film has over the Wimpy Kid series is that the young cast has help from some of Hollywood's elite, as co-stars include Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner. The pair give a lot of support and the producers use them to break-up the middle school monotony that would has surely ensued.

While not my usual genre, I loved the Wimpy kid series, but Alexander's bad day is more than an adequate alternative for those who are looking for something a little bit different.